Former Intersil exec takes helm at Exar

SAN FRANCISCO—Chip and subsystem vendor Exar Corp. Tuesday (Dec. 6) named Louis DiNardo, a 30-year semiconductor industry veteran and former Intersil president and chief operating officer, to the position of president and CEO.

Exar (Fremont, Calif.) said DiNardo replaces Richard Leza, who acted as president and CEO on an interim basis. Leza, Exar's chairman, ran the company on an interim basis since early last month, when then President and CEO Pete Rodriquez resigned.

DiNardo will become a member of the Exar's board beginning Jan. 3, 2012, Exar said.

"Lou brings to our organization executive leadership and demonstrated experience across a wide range of disciplines," Leza said, in a statement.

DiNardo was most recently a partner at San Francisco-based venture capital firm Crosslink Capital. Earlier in his career he was president and COO at Intersil from 2004 to 2006 and president and CEO of Xicor Inc., a chip company that was acquired by Intersil in 2004. Prior to Xicor, DiNardo spent 13 years at Linear Technology Corp., where he served as vice president of worldwide marketing and general manager of the mixed-signal business unit. He began his career at Analog Devices Inc.

DiNardo also serves on the board of directors of a number of firms, including Sysnapsense Corp. and SoloPower Inc.

In connection with his appointment, DiNardo was granted an option to purchase 1.2 million shares of Exar's common stock, the company said.